Why Every Disney Adult Should Be RUNNING to This Event in November

 

As Disney foodies, we’re living the good life! Since August, we’ve been enjoying EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival, and now we get to enjoy another food and wine event for a limited time.

Have you heard of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic? It’s an event that runs from November 20th through the 21st, from 5 PM to 9 PM each day, featuring gourmet cuisine from award-winning chefs, paired with fine wines, beers, and spirits from around the world. We got the awesome chance to check it out early, and we’re taking you with us!

The Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic is a special ticketed event that offers unlimited food and drinks from themed areas across the Swan & Dolphin Causeway. The themed areas for 2026 include The Beer Garden, Bubble Lounge, For the Love of Florida, Carnival Corner, Chinatown, and Desserts.

First, we tried the Slow Cooked Berkshire Pork Belly with Hickory Smoked Cane Sugar “Cloud,” and Carrot Ginger purée, which will be available on Friday at Smokin D’s BBQ. This was UH-mazing! The cloud on top of the pork belly is actually cotton candy, and it is not as weird as it sounds. You get this nice sweetness to the savory flavor of the pork belly, and it just balances out beautifully. Just WOW. The carrot ginger purée also just melts in the mouth and adds a touch of freshness to that sugar and fat. Then you’ve got crunchy garlic for extra flavor and texture.

We also had the Crispy Fried Eggplant with Tzatziki, Cardamom Apricots, and Toasted Sesame Seeds. This will be available on Friday at the Amare food booth. Who knew eggplant would be our new obsession? But here we are. It’s so crispy and prepared very well (which is a tricky thing to do with eggplant). It’s got a slight earthiness, but the tzatziki adds a zing and some creaminess. The apricot has a lovely chewy texture. The only thing is that the toasted sesame seeds seem to get drowned by the tzatziki.

The Bourbon Steak Booth will offer the Slow Braised Wagyu Beef Short Rib both days of the festival. It’s served with Celery Root Espuma and Shallot Marmalade. If we had to pick a favorite dish, this was IT. The beef just pulls apart so easily with a fork. The celery root espuma adds a light earthiness, as well as a creamy texture. Then you get the sharp, acidic flavor of the shallot marmalade to balance it all out.

Todd English’s bluezoo is presenting the Oyster Espuma with Gruyère Panna Cotta, Champagne Sphere, Sea Beans, Crispy Parmesan, and Tobiko Caviar. It’s served in an oyster shell, but the oyster itself has been worked into the panna cotta, which is fantastic. It’s airy, but still somehow manages to pack in lots of flavor. The crispy parmesan adds some crunch (and cheesiness, which we ALWAYS appreciate), while the caviar and champagne spheres make the dish unique and interesting.

We have one word to say about the Chestnut Agnolotti with Roasted Pumpkin, Citrus Butter, Toasted Black Walnuts, Crispy Sage, and Shaved Parmesan: DELICIOUS. The pasta is perfectly al dente and covered in SO MUCH butter. Then you get that citrus and buttery flavor combining with the fall, earthy flavor of the pumpkin that just makes it even more perfect. The toasted walnuts add a nice crunch. This is one of those dishes that feels familiar, but also elevated. WE LOVED IT.

Kimonos will be offering the Bluefin Tuna Hamachi with Cucumber, Fried Shallots, Sweet Soy Glaze, Dynamite Sauce, and Bubu Arare on Saturday. This is another item that feels familiar, yet elevated. The fish itself is high quality, fresh, and not too salty or fishy. The cucumber is also fresh, and the dynamite sauce adds just a subtle kick. The fried shallots are crispy, so you get some nice texture. This is like sushi, but somehow better.

Carnival Corner will feature the “Char Siu” Pulled Pork Slider with Fermented Red Bean and Cherry Marinade, Shiso Coriander Aioli, and Charred Scallion Slaw. It’s messy, but it’s so good that no one seemed to mind that it was running down their faces. The cherry marinade makes the salty pork slightly sweet and fruity. The “char siu” elements are really there, too, in the flavors. The charred scallion slaw adds a nice crispiness and earthy taste to the sweet meat. Then you’ve got the coriander aioli that adds a nice additional flavor, making the whole thing so dynamic.

Then it was time for something sweet. Yep, we’re talking about DESSERTS. Now, a LOT of folks were saying the Cinnamon Roll Waffle with Spiced Anglaise and Dulce de Leche Ice Cream was their favorite thing EVER. And, well, we are right there with them. This is what a churro waffle should be, and it had such a wonderful cinnamon flavor, while also having a good amount of sugar on the outside. The dulce de leche ice cream is a nice touch to cut through all that sugar. We will say it was hard to cut through the waffle with a fork, but it makes sense that it was made just a little hard so it wouldn’t get soggy with the ice cream.

Another dessert we got to try was the Rocher Chocolate, which is a bigger take on the Ferrero Rocher chocolate candy. However, this doesn’t have that crunchy thing going on like the candy has, and once you break into it, it’s just melted chocolate coming out of all sides. But the chocolate has a beautiful flavor and is rich and decadent. But yeah, we wanted that crunch.

Finally, we tried the Viral Dubai Strawberry Shot. This one was our least favorite dessert, but even saying that, we thought it tasted pretty good. The chocolate is silky and rich, but it tends to overpower the pistachio and strawberry. We think this could benefit from MORE sweet strawberry and nutty pistachio flavor. BUT…if you love chocolate, you’re going to love this.

This is the first time the Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic has a collaborative tasting experience featuring Celebrity Chefs Michael Mina and Todd English. The James Beard Award-winning chefs Michael Mina and Todd English will host the exclusive experience on November 21st, from 3:30 – 5 PM for a limited number of guests.

The Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic has never missed for us. We seriously recommend you check it out, and if you can’t this year, definitely next year (assuming it’s back). For more Disney content, make sure to follow us at the Disney Food Blog.

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Are you going to the event this year? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin to attend their media preview of the Food & Wine Classic. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ